The rising NBA star is increasing the pressure on Cody Williams

Cody Williams had a nightmarish rookie season for the Utah Jazz last year, and his preseason performance wasn’t exactly great overall. As if there wasn’t enough pressure on the Jazz sophomore, the emergence of Matas Buzelis will only put more pressure on Williams to figure things out.

Buzelis was selected right after Williams in the 2024 NBA Draft, with the Chicago Bulls selecting him with the 11th overall pick. In terms of position, Buzelis and Williams are quite similar, with the only difference being that the former is far ahead of the latter in terms of development.

That’s only looked worse since the start of preseason, as it seems like Buzelis wasn’t a mirage.

Combine that with Williams’ preseason struggles, and it doesn’t look good. The preseason never amounted to anything, but it looks like Buzelis and Williams are on the same trajectory as they were at the end of last season, and that’s not a good prospect for Williams.

Now it’s a long season and Williams has always looked like a project for the Jazz, but these types of decisions will continue to crop up as Buzelis looks real while Williams looks like a real swing and miss.

It’s frustrating because Williams’ idea is very enticing. It really seems like he could be the do-it-all, oversized point guard that gives the Jazz themselves so much versatility. The irony is that Buzelis just might be that and more if he continues to rise.

Williams failing to act out teaches a harsh reality

Let the record show that no one gives up on Williams because it’s too soon, but that rookie performance of his was a tough pill to swallow. It was bad enough to the point that there may not be a Jazz lottery pick in franchise history currently facing as much skepticism in his second NBA season as he currently is.

If he doesn’t, it shows that not everyone will sustain a rebuild. Utah has not typically been a country that relied on youth movements in the past, so this is new territory for them, but with the amount of young talent they have at their disposal, not all of them will work out.

That’s kind of inevitable at this point that some of the Jazz’s young players won’t be part of their long-term plan because they couldn’t find their footing or find their place on the team. As fun as it is to make the likes of Brice Sensabaugh and Kyle Filipowski look like draft day steals, that also comes with the caveat that guys like Williams may turn out to be frauds.

Again, we’re not done yet on Williams or any of the other Jazz kids in general, but big decisions are coming soon enough for the Jazz, and Williams could be the toughest choice.